Microfine coal firing results from a retrofit gas/oil-designed industrial boiler

Technical Report · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/251296· OSTI ID:251296

Patel, R; Borio, R W; Liljedahl, G ^[1]; Miller, B G; Scaroni, A W ^[2]; McGowan, J G ^[3]

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1. Combustion Engineering, Inc., Windsor, CT (United States). ABB Power Plant Labs.
2. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Energy and Fuels Research Center
3. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States)

The development of a High Efficiency Advanced Coal Combustor (HEACC) has been in progress since 1987 and the ABB Power Plant Laboratories. The initial work on this concept produced an advanced coal firing system that was capable of firing both water-based and dry pulverized coal in an industrial boiler environment. Economics may one day dictate that it makes sense to replace oil or natural gas with coal in boilers that were originally designed to burn these fuels. The objective of the current program is to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of retrofitting a gas/oil designed boiler to burn micronized coal. In support of this overall objective, the following specific areas were targeted: A coal handling/preparation system that can meet the technical requirements for retrofitting microfine coal on a boiler designed for burning oil or natural gas; Maintaining boiler thermal performance in accordance with specifications when burning oil or natural gas; Maintaining NOx emissions at or below 0.6 lb/MBtu; Achieving combustion efficiencies of 98% or higher; and Calculating economic payback periods as a function of key variables. The overall program has consisted of five major tasks: (1) A review of current state-of-the-art coal firing system components; (2) Design and experimental testing of a prototype HEACC burner; (3) Installation and testing of a HEACC system in a commercial retrofit application; (4) Economic evaluation of the HEACC concept for retrofit applications; and (5) Long term demonstration under commercial user demand conditions. This paper will summarize the latest key experimental results (Task 3) and the economic evaluation (Task 4) of the HEACC concept for retrofit applications. 28 figs., 6 tabs.

• Research Organization: Combustion Engineering, Inc., Windsor, CT (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC22-91PC91160
• OSTI ID: 251296
• Report Number(s): CONF-9507159--6; ON: DE96012211
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
COAL
COAL PREPARATION
COMBUSTION
COMBUSTORS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
FUEL SUBSTITUTION
GAS FURNACES
MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT
NITROGEN OXIDES
OIL FURNACES
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PULVERIZED FUELS
PULVERIZERS
RETROFITTING
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT